Bullet
by The Sarcastic Polar Bear
Summary: What if the shooting at Alcatraz had gone differently and Shawn had shot Natara?
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings, fangirls! I never thought I'd see the day when I write for a GAME. Wow. But Cause of Death is a very addicting game. Since this is my first COD fic, I most likely won't get a huge amount of reviews. This is an AU story. What if Shawn had shot Natara?**

**If any of my SVU and House readers are reading, Cause of Death is an addicting iPod/ipad/iphone game. LOL.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Mal Fallon tried to shout, but the sound of a gunshot drowned his voice out, and a single bullet exited the barrel of the gun not ten feet from him.

Time slowed to a crawl as the bullet whizzed past him and lodged itself in his partner's abdomen.

"Natara!" he screamed as she fell onto the floor. Shawn Mallory stood behind him, trembling as he realized what he had done. He had shot someone he loved… what had he become?

Mal focused his gun on Shawn. "I didn't want to do this…" His finger tightened on the trigger. Shawn did the same.

"Don't shoot me…" His voice shook.

"So you shoot Natara and expect me to walk away from this?" Mal snarled, aiming his gun. Shawn followed suit. "I can take you down right now." And he would. Mal didn't care if it meant being thrown off of the team.

He gestured to the gunshot wound that Shawn already had. "You're already bleeding out. You can barely stand. You've been bleeding for hours. And you just crossed the line."

He started to pull the trigger, but Shawn beat him to it. Mal ducked, fearing the worst. But after a moment of silence, he looked up and saw that the bullet hadn't been for him.

Shawn had shot himself. Mal was stunned for a second, and then hurried to Natara's side. She weakly clutched her bleeding wound, and he placed his hands over hers.

"Mal…" she moaned weakly, her eyelids flickering.

"I'm right here." Mal gently smoothed her hair back. "Help's coming."

"Shawn…?"

He shook his head softly. "Nope." Natara started to close her eyes. Mal began to slip into panic mode. "Nat… no, don't close your eyes. C'mon, open them."

Weakly she opened her eyes again, feeling tiny raindrops patter against her face. Her breathing was slowly becoming rough and shaky, and her vision clouded.

"Just focus on my voice," Mal coaxed. "Keep your eyes open. Think about that creepy way you read people's minds."

Managing a tiny smile, she said, "It's not… creepy…"

Mal smirked. "It is when you're the one having your mind read." He checked his watch, wondering when the ambulance would arrive. Natara's eyes started to slip shut again, and he shook her gently.

"Mhm…" Natara murmured, barely opening her eyes. "Oww…"

"I know," Mal soothed. He pulled her closer, applying more pressure to her wounded stomach. "Just stay with me, okay?"

"Trying…"

"Well, keep trying. Read my mind. Just stay awake." Mal looked down at Natara. Her eyes were closed. "Natara!"

"I'm a-awake," she whispered weakly, clutching his shirt with shaky fingers. Trembling, she rested her head on his chest. Mal kept one hand pressing down firmly on her injury and stroked her hair with the other.

"Just hang on," he murmured into her ear, softly rocking her back and forth. He looked up. "Where is that damn ambulance?" he yelled.

Natara stirred at the loudness of his voice and struggled to keep her eyes open. Her eyelids felt like they weighed one hundred pounds and every time she closed them, it felt like they had been cemented together. Dizzy, she groaned quietly and clenched her fist tighter around Mal's shirt.

"Natara, I know it's hard, but keep fighting, okay?" Mal frowned when she didn't answer him. "Natara…?"

"Hurts…" Natara mumbled. Her eyes slid shut, and the last thing she head was Mal's frantic voice. He sounded so close, yet so far away…

"_Natara!"_

CoD- CoD- CoD

The ambulance barreled toward the hospital, sirens screaming and lights flashing as the paramedics tended to Natara.

Mal held her hand tightly as the ambulance teetered back and forth. He stroked her knuckles and stared at her. Her naturally tanned face was a ghostly white, and that scared him.

They eventually arrived at the hospital, and it took every fiber of Mal's being to restrain himself from running after them.

He stood frozen in place, watching the closed doors as if they were something fascinating instead of a barrier blocking him out.

Natara was going to be alright. He knew it. She was a fighter, and she couldn't die not knowing how he felt. Even though she wasn't near him, he spoke quietly.

"I love you…"

**Traumatizingly short, 708 words. But some reviews will make me write part two sooner!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, people! Sorry it took so long, but here we are! The first part is still depressing, but the ending should make you smile.**

**I own nothing.**

Mal stood leaning against the wall in the emergency room lobby.

It had been only a little longer than an hour since Natara had been taken back, but it felt like so much longer. He checked his watch obsessively, impatiently waiting for news on his partner. He could hear the sounds of feet scuffing the cold tile floor, the murmurs of various people, and the clock ticking.

_Tick tock... tick tock._

Rubbing his temples, he sighed and started to pace the floor again, his feet making angry tapping sounds against the cold hospital floor. _Mallory, if you hadn't shot yourself, I would have done it for you, _he thought bitterly, finally sitting down in a vacant chair close to the door.

Thunder rumbled faintly outside, doing absolutely nothing to lift his spirits. He glared down at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. He heard footsteps approaching, but only offered the slightest upward glance to identify the visitor.

"Yo, Mal. Any word on Agent Fine Lady?" Ken Greene stood beside the seat his best friend resided in.

Mal shook his head, his eyebrows still furrowed in a glare. "No. Nada. Zip," he muttered lowly.

"Ah, she'll pull through, Mal. If she can kick ass the way she does, she can take a bullet." Ken perched on the other chair and patted the other man's back. "So Mallory really shot himself?"

"Hey, I tried to shoot him. But he beat me to it." Mal frowned. "Sadly."

Finally a doctor approached them. "Detective Fallon?" Mal leaped to his feet. "Agent Williams pulled through the surgery. She's in room 306. She lost a lot of-" He stopped speaking. Mal was already out of sight. Dr. Manning turned to Ken. "She lost a lot of blood, but she'll be fine."

Ken stared at the doors where Mal had vanished. "I'll tell the runaway later."

Mal hurried down the hall, earning glares from passerbys. He found the desired room and slowed down before entering quietly. Natara was lying very still in the bed, her chest rising and falling gently as she breathed. Her mouth was slightly open, and her head drooped to the side.

"Heh... I can bug her about that," Mal chuckled to himself and took a picture with his cell phone before sitting in the chair next to her bedside. She shifted slightly but didn't awaken when he rested his hand over her smaller one.

Natara slept for another hour before showing any signs of waking up. The doctor had come in to warn him that she may not be very coherent because of the medication they had put her on, but Mal didn't care. As long as she would be alright, he was happy.

"Mmh..." she mumbled, her fingers clenching under Mal's hand. Mal, who had started to nod off, opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Hey," Mal said softly. "Natara?"

Natara opened her eyes and blinked, staring in confusion. "Mal…?"

"In the flesh," he replied. "How do you feel?"

The incident flooded back to her, and she frowned before touching her stomach. "It hurts, but I'll live."

"Well, they have you on a lot of meds, so soon you'll feel too good to feel sore."

"How long have I been out?"

Mal shrugged. "You got out of surgery about an hour ago."

"Shawn didn't make it, did he?"

He tried not to scowl. "No… he shot himself. You probably don't remember." His expression softened. "I'm sorry, Nat. I know you two were close."

Natara blinked back tears, unwilling to cry in front of her partner. "It's okay, Mal. Really." She couldn't help but feel hurt that Shawn would take his own life after shooting her.

He gently squeezed her hand. "You gonna be okay?" Natara nodded.

"Yeah."

"You sure? You don't need to put on an act just because I'm here. I can go if you want…" Mal sighed reluctantly.

"No, Mal. You can stay." She would never admit it, but she needed him there.

At that moment a nurse came in. "Hi, sweetie, how do you feel?" she asked in an obviously fake sweet voice. Natara scowled.

"Like someone who just got shot," she said bluntly. The nurse scoffed and increased the amount of morphine before leaving. Within minutes, the medicine settled in, and Natara grinned.

"What?" Mal stared at her blankly.

"I feel good… _reeeeaal gooood_." Natara giggled, surprising Mal.

"Well… that's good for someone who just got a bullet lodged in their stomach and lost someone close to them."

Natara looked down at her stomach and gasped. "My stomach… it's gone…" Mal couldn't help but grin at the confused look on her face.

"It's under the blanket."

"Oh... so it's not missing?"

"Nope. It's been on your body the whole time."

"That's good… really good." Suddenly she became serious and fixed her gaze on the light on the ceiling. "Call an electrician…"

"Why?"

"The light… it's moving."

Mal looked up. "Nope. No movement."

"Mal! Yes it is! Now either you call a repairman, or fix it yourself! Or else I'll get up there and make it hold still!"

"You're just seeing things."

She stared at him in horror. "Am I crazy?"

"No, just too high to think straight." Mal pulled out his cell phone and started to record her. _May as well have some fun with this one day when I need something from her, _he thought silently.

"Am I drug addict?" his partner gasped, her eyes wide.

"I hope not."

Natara nodded seriously. "I hope you're right." She grinned and started drumming her hands on her thighs. "Hey… I'm musical!" Her eyelids starting to droop, she fell back against the pillow and hummed some tune that Mal couldn't recognize.

"That you are." He started to lean back in the chair, but Natara grabbed his hand tightly. "You alright?"

"Of course I am, silly!" she scolded. She looked at him in an almost woeful manner. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, anything."

"Kiss me good night."

Mal frowned. Not that he hadn't considered it, but she had just lost Shawn, and she was high as a kite on morphine. One kiss couldn't hurt. He looked over his shoulder to make sure nobody could see him and hesitantly kissed her on the forehead. "Better?" He felt his cheeks blush to a dark red.

"Mm hmm…" Her eyes slipped shut, and he watched as her breathing evened out. Finally he gave in and closed his eyes, joining her in a well-deserved sleep.

**D'aww… Maltara goodness! Okay, I never thought I'd like writing for a game so much! But in a way, Cause of Death is almost like watching a show or even reading a fanfic. You may not get to hear their voices, but you read what they say and do, and you see their portraits, and we get a new episode every Monday. I keep my iPod all charged up so I can download it. Haha, review? But first, I shall tell you a story.**

**Once upon a time, in the land of a bedroom, one girl named Jara discovered that she was boredeth. So she foundeth her iPod and decideth, "I shall find a new iPod game!" In glee did the girl loadeth the app store, and hurried off the listeth of free apps! She saweth one titled Cause of Death, and she downloaded it onto her ipod and playedeth it until she realized that she couldn't stop! Within minutes, she claimed, "I now shippeth Mal and Natara, long live Maltara!"**

**One day Jara was onlineth when she stumbled upon the Cause of Death fanfiction archive. Oh, in happiness did she write! She wroteth and wroteth until her first Cause of Death story was posted, which be-eth the one you readeth now. And so did the girl learneth that she loved to write for Cause of Death! And the girl loveth reviews, so I suggest you revieweth for a part three :)**

**Hope y'all enjoyed that… I got carried away :P **


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